Tag: british museum

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Egyptian Artifacts

Abydos Kings List and the Missing Pharaohs

Something I was so excited to see in the British Museum was the Abydos King List. There are two surviving King Lists from temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช at Abydos, the cult center of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. One temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ is from Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ , and the other from his son Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, who were both pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ during the 19th Dynasty. Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  list is still in the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Abydos, while Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ was excavated and brought to the British Museum.

While neither list is a 100% complete list, there are some glaring holes in the list – Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ–, Smenkhare ๐“‡ณ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ป๐“‚“๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ, Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“, and Ayโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ๐“ช๐“น๐“™๐“ cartouches are missing. Obviously, these names were left off because these pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ are considered non-legitimate. Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was the female pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and Akhenaten-Ay is considered the Amarna Period, which was not well liked due to the drama of Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– changing the religion and moving the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–. In the picture ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“, Iโ€™m pointing to where Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– should be!

The point of the King Lists was not to preserve history for future generations, rather the main objective was to glorify the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and as we know, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ were considered gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth. These lists allowed Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ to assert their legitimacy amongst the old pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

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Egyptian Artifacts

The Abydos King List

Something I was so excited to see in the British Museum was the Abydos King List. There are two surviving King Lists from temples ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰๐“ช at Abydos, the cult center of Osiris ๐“น๐“Šจ๐“€ญ. One temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ is from Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ , and the other from his son Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, who were both pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ during the 19th Dynasty. Seti Iโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  list is still in the temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Abydos, while Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ was excavated and brought to the British Museum.

While neither list is a 100% complete list, there are some glaring holes in the list – Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช, Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…ž๐“๐“ˆ–, Smenkhare ๐“‡ณ๐“Šƒ๐“‰ป๐“‚“๐“‚ฆ๐“†ฃ, Tutankhamun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“‹น๐“‹พ๐“‰บ๐“‡“, and Ayโ€™s ๐“‡ณ๐“†ฃ๐“†ฃ๐“ช๐“น๐“™๐“ cartouches are missing. Obviously, these names were left off because these pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ are considered non-legitimate. Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช was the female pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป, and Akhenaten-Ay is considered the Amarna Period, which was not well liked due to the drama of Akhenaten changing the religion and moving the capital of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

The point of the King Lists was not to preserve history for future generations, rather the main objective was to glorify the gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน, and as we know, pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ were considered gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน on Earth. These lists allowed Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“  and Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ to assert their legitimacy amongst the old pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฅ of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–.

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Egyptian Artifacts

False Door of Bateti

This is the False Door of a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค named Bateti ๐“ƒ€๐“‚๐“๐“๐“๐“‡‹ who was an official during the 5th Dynasty (2494-2345 B.C.E.). This particular False Door is interesting because it shows Bateti ๐“ƒ€๐“‚๐“๐“๐“๐“‡‹ emerging from it – the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ served as a vessel for his soul ๐“‚“ to pass through the door. This False Door stood in the chapel of his mastaba tomb ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰. The False Door remains unfinished and his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– should be carved above the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ, but only two ๐“ป hieroglyphic symbols were carved.

Batetiโ€™s full name: ๐“ƒ€๐“‚๐“๐“๐“๐“‡‹

What appears on the False Door: ๐“๐“๐“ (the โ€œ๐“๐“โ€ has been fully carved but the โ€œ๐“โ€ has only been sketched on to the limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰).

False Doors are an extremely important part of ancient Egyptian funerary practices. False Doors served as ways for the living relatives to make offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ to the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The offerings ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“”๐“ฆ usually consisted of food ๐“‡ฌ๐“€๐“…ฑ๐“”๐“ฅ- bread ๐“ and beer ๐“Š were two common ones! The False Door acted as a link between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The ancient Egyptians ๐“†Ž๐“๐“€€๐“๐“ช believed that the soul ๐“‚“ of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ could travel between the two lands ๐“‡ฟ๐“‡ฟ through the False Door. They are also known as โ€œka ๐“‚“ doorsโ€ or โ€œsoul ๐“‚“ doors.โ€

False Doors were usually located on the western ๐“‹€๐“๐“ญ walls of tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ because the west ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ is associated with the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The west ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ is associated with the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ because the sun ๐“‡ณ๐“บ sets in the west ๐“‹€๐“๐“๐“ˆŠ – when Ra ๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“› makes his daily journey across the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ, sunset ๐“‡‹๐“๐“๐“…ฑ๐“‡ถ is representative of his death.

๐“™๐“‹น๐“Šฝ๐“Œ€

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Egyptian Artifacts

Horus as a Sphinx

This is a really interesting piece from the British Museum!

It is a sandstone ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“‚ง๐“๐“Œ—๐“ˆ™ statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of a falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ headed sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค! Usually sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ are depicted as being the body of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› with the head ๐“ถ๐“บ of a man ๐“Šƒ๐“€€๐“ค, but obviously this one is quite different!

This particular statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is dated to c. 1250 B.C.E.; the reign of Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“. This sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค and many other similar ones used to stand guard at Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Abu Simbel.

Sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ are incredibly powerful creatures because not only do they represent the physical strength ๐“„‡๐“๐“‚๐“ญ of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›, but also the power of a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. While the pharaohโ€™s ๐“‰๐“‰ป head ๐“ถ๐“บ isnโ€™t represented on this sphinx ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ค, a falcon is. Falcons ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„๐“ฆ are associated with the god ๐“Šน Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ, who is the personification of the pharaohโ€™s ๐“‰๐“‰ป power. Since one of Horusโ€™ ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ roles is as the god ๐“Šน of pharaonic power, it makes sense that sphinxes ๐“Ž›๐“…ฑ๐“ƒญ๐“ฆ can also represent pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ while using a falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ head ๐“ถ๐“บ.

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Rameses II

This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ is one of the largest Egyptian artifacts in the British Museum. The piece is definitely grand, and is even more beautiful ๐“„ค in person. Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ was Egyptโ€™s ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– most prolific builder, so it makes sense that objects made in his likeness are also grand!

Nicole (me) with the Statue of Rameses II at the British Museum

Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ came to the throne after the death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ of his father Seti I ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“ , and ruled Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– as pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป for about 67 years. He was the third pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป of the 19th Dynasty, and is often referred to as โ€œRameses The Greatโ€ because he built ๐“๐“‚ค๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“€ง more monuments than any other pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป and ruled longer than any other pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป.

The monuments attributed to Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ are some of the best preserved in all of Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– – it seems that he got his wish to be remembered even so long after his death ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. Rameses II ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ built ๐“๐“‚ค๐“…ฑ๐“‹ด๐“€ง as much as he could so he could ensure that his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– lived on. He also usurped a lot of other previous pharaohsโ€™ ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ monuments too!

Geology time!!!! This statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ was cut from pink/gray granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ. Granite ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“ˆ–๐“Œณ๐“ฟ is an extremely strong rock ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“‚‹๐“ˆ™ and resistant to weathering due to its high quartz content (hence why it is used to make countertops in modern times), so that is why the details on this are so well preserved.

This piece was excavated by Belzoni and was originally from Rameses IIโ€™s ๐“ฉ๐“›๐“ˆ˜๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“ mortuary temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Thebes ๐“Œ€๐“๐“Š– (aka the Ramesseum).

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Egyptian Artifacts

Statue of Rameses IV

This is a stunning ๐“„ค statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ of the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Rameses IV ๐“‡ณ๐“‹พ๐“ฆ who ruled during Egyptโ€™s ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– 20th Dynasty. He is depicted in a kneeling position with offering pots ๐“ (for wine or water) in each of his hands. I always find this depiction of a pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป fascinating because pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ are considered gods ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน so they shouldnโ€™t kneel for anyone – except another god ๐“Šน!

The god ๐“Šน that Rameses IV ๐“‡ณ๐“‹พ๐“ฆ is making an offering ๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช๐“๐“” to is most likely Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“บ๐“‡ณ, since Amun-Ra ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“บ๐“‡ณ is mentioned in hieroglyphic texts ๐“Ÿ๐“›๐“ฅ on the back panel of the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ.

The cartouches for Rameses IVโ€™s nomen (birth name) ๐“‡ณ๐“„Ÿ๐“Šƒ๐“Šƒ and prenomen (throne name) ๐“‡ณ๐“‹พ๐“ฆ are on each shoulder. There are many different variants of the nomen and prenomen, so these are not they only way his name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ– appears on monuments! I just used the ones that were also used on the statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ itself! The different ways to write the names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ of pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ are called โ€œvariants.โ€

While the original provenance isnโ€™t known, it is most likely that they statue ๐“„š๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ is originally from Amun-Raโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“บ๐“‡ณ temple ๐“‰Ÿ๐“๐“‰ at Karnak. Rameses IV ๐“‡ณ๐“‹พ๐“ฆ was one of the pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ who contributed to the decoration of Hypostyle Hall!

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Egyptian Artifacts

A Collection of Amulets

I love ancient Egyptian amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช – probably because I love tiny objects! Amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were small objects wrapped within the bandages on a mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ or worn by a living person. The purpose of the amulets was to protect the wearer with magic powers that were specific to that amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†. The amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช were also supposed to aid in resurrection. Here in the British Museum, they had quite a nice display of some faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช! I love faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ pieces because I love their blue-green ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“› color! I also like this display because you can see different style variations!

The wedjat ๐“‚€ (Eye of Horus) is a very common symbol of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ and regeneration. The wedjat ๐“‚€ symbol was used by both the living and the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ! Many people wore wedjat ๐“‚€ necklaces or rings ๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“‹ช๐“ฆ in order to invoke its powers of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ. This very much shows how religion and fashion were very much related in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–!

The Isis knot ๐“Žฌ is representative of a tied piece of cloth and is associated with the blood of Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ (hence why red colored stones are usually used to make these amulets). It is a symbol of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ in the afterlife ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰, and was usually placed at the neck of the deceased. Knots in Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š– were thought to release magic.

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Egyptian Artifacts

(More) Ushabti Figures

More ushabtis!!!! Most ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures are made of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ, but can also be made out of wood, limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰, calcite, terracotta and more rarely, bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ. Today Iโ€™m going to talk about bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures!

It is pretty rare to find bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures and there are not too many instances of archaeologists finding bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ones in tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฅ. Before the discovery of the royal tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฅ at Tanis ๐“†“๐“‚๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Š–, only six ๐“ฟ bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures had been found. One ๐“บ was for the pharaoh Rameses II ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ˜๐“‡ณ๐“บ๐“„Ÿ๐“‹ด๐“‡“, and five ๐“พ were for Rameses III ๐“‡ณ๐“„Š๐“ง๐“ˆ˜๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–.

The pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป Psusennes I ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“…ฎ๐“‡ผ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ–๐“Š– of the 21st Dynasty (c. 1000 B.C.E.) had many bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures made. The bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ are in similar style to the โ€œregularโ€ types of ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures made with more popular materials. They are mummiform, with the arms crossed on the chest with an inscription on the front. Psusennesโ€™ ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“…ฎ๐“‡ผ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ–๐“Š– ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures are distributed in museums around the world and are highly valued pieces despite their modest appearance!

Unrelated, but I love Psusennes Iโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Œป๐“…ฎ๐“‡ผ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ–๐“Š– name ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–! It translates to โ€œ The star who has appeared in Nut, beloved of Amun.โ€ Sometimes, Nut ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Š– is taken to mean โ€œThebesโ€ in royal titularly. Nut ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญ is the goddess ๐“Šน๐“ of the sky ๐“Šช๐“๐“‡ฏ! Nut can be written as โ€œ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“Š–โ€ or โ€œ๐“Œ๐“๐“‡ฏ๐“€ญโ€ (and there are other variations as well)!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabti Figures

One of the reasons I find ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures so fascinating is because they come in many different styles and can be made from many different types of materials. Most ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures are made of faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ, but can also be made out of wood, limestone ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“ˆ™๐“Œ‰, calcite, terracotta and more rarely, bronze ๐“ˆ”๐“ค๐“ˆ’๐“ฆ. The faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures can come in all different colors: blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ, red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ, green ๐“‡…๐“„ฟ๐“†“๐“›, blue-green ๐“‡…๐“†“๐“›, white ๐“Œ‰๐“†“๐“‡ณ and others!

I love how this display at the British Museum shows many different styles/colors of ushabtis ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ!

There are two ๐“ป ways to write ushabti in hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช:

๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ – ลกwbtj – the earlier word that was used in Egypt.
๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ – wลกbtj – the โ€œnewerโ€ form of the word. This is where the Egyptological term of โ€œushabtiโ€ or โ€œshabtiโ€ (both are correct terms to use) originated from!

So which version of the word do I use in my posts? Both! I like to mix it up! โ€œ ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พโ€ seems to be the version preferred by Allen, while โ€œ ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พโ€ seems to be more used by Budge and other earlier hieroglyphic dictionaries. I think itโ€™s important to be able to recognize both versions for translation purposes! In English, my Nonno always said โ€œushabtiโ€ so I always use it! I will rarely say/use โ€œshabti.โ€

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Ushabtis of the High Priests of Amun

This group of blue ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“๐“„ฟ๐“ธ๐“ฅ glazed faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ (or shabti) figures belonged to different โ€œHigh Priests of Amun ๐“Šน๐“›๐“Œ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณโ€ and their families. These ushabtis ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ were found in the Royal Cache at Deir el-Bahri and are dated to the 21-22 Dynasties (1070-925 B.C.E.).

The โ€œHigh Priest of Amun ๐“Šน๐“›๐“Œ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณโ€ was the top ranking priest ๐“Šน๐“› in the priesthood of the god ๐“Šน Amun ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–. The High Priests of Amun ๐“Šน๐“›๐“Œ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ first appeared during the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom and gained a lot of power under Hatshepsut ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช and Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ. The Theban high priest was usually appointed by the pharaoh ๐“‰๐“‰ป. However, their power was curtailed when Akhenaten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ๐“…œ๐“๐“ˆ– came to the throne and changed the polytheistic Egyptian religion to the monotheistic worship ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“€ข of the Aten ๐“‡‹๐“๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ.

Though not officially pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ themselves, The High Priests of Amun ๐“Šน๐“›๐“Œ๐“ˆ–๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“‡ณ during the 21st Dynasty were unofficial rulers of Upper Egypt ๐“‡“. Their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ even appeared in cartouches and they were buried in royal tombs ๐“‡‹๐“ซ๐“Šƒ๐“‰๐“ฆ. This partially explains why these particular ushabti ๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ™๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ญ๐“€พ figures have the craftsmanship that would usually be reserved for royalty.